In the automobile industry in particular, filter elements are used for the intake air of the internal combustion engine and/or for filtering the air supplied to the interior. Such filter elements have PUR polyester or PUR polyether foam seals for the seal between the unfiltered air side and the filtered air side. One disadvantage of such foam seals is that these seals may absorb moisture and deposits may form on the seals. Furthermore, such glued-on seals may be sheared off during installation into the complex filter housing provided for this purpose and thus no longer fulfill the required sealing tasks.
A filter element is known from DE-OS 26 20 148, for example, which is constructed from corrugated paper filter webs and is enclosed on its lateral front faces using lateral strips, which are glued onto the filter webs using an adhesive. These lateral strips are produced from a premolded, foamed plastic and are used to seal the filter element in relation to the holder of the filter element.
In order to simplify the production method, it is additionally known from DE 197 37 700 A1 that the lateral strips, like the filter webs, are produced from a paper web and are additionally provided with an adhesive layer. If at least one tear-proof thread or a corresponding band is situated on the adhesive layer, a sufficient strength of the lateral strip may be achieved.
The present invention is based on the object of refining a filter element of the type cited at the beginning in such a way that it is producible using simple means, has a low susceptibility to moisture and deposits, and fulfills the required sealing tasks and the required high strength.
This object is achieved by the filter element and production method as described and claimed hereinafter.